Welfare Reform Bill

The right hon. Gentleman is right to suggest that there is an issue with the system. People can lose their benefits if they refuse a reasonable job—the Conservative party proposes to introduce that, but provision for it already exists. It is difficult to sanction someone on the basis of their doing a bad job interview, even if it is done purely to avoid going back into work. Professor Gregg recommended a quicker, clearer but escalating system, whereby people are warned, and have the reason for a potential sanction explained to them, so that the sanction is not based on misunderstanding. One can take away people's benefits for a week or four weeks, and require them to come in to do full-time activity or things that the adviser believes will ensure that they comply with the system. We must strike a balance between ensuring that we treat people sensitively and do not cause them undue hardship, and ensuring that they carry out their obligations. Indeed, I believe that the right hon. Gentleman, in his report on a commission for social justice, said that workless parents should have to come in for interviews and undertake preparation for work. That is the policy that we are proposing in the Bill. Unfortunately, unless the right hon. Member for Maidenhead performs a second U-turn, Conservative Front Benchers will oppose it. I therefore hope that the right hon. Gentleman will support us and have a word with his party leader, who said just before Christmas that he opposed the policy and obviously had not read the report on a commission for social justice. We have read it and learned from the bits that we think we would work.